philadelphia cathedral copyright Miss Plum.

my weekend was a whirlwind of activity. friday i ran down to the kimmel center directly from work to meet up with the wedding clients at their rehearsal and check out the lay of the land for shooting on saturday. then i ran back to west philly to be at a shoot at the philadelphia cathedral by 7:15. it was a lovely hymn program with a brass quartet and the cathedral singers. the sound in that place is incredible, and it’s a really beautiful space as well. then all day saturday was occupied with getting ready for, and then actually shooting, the wedding. we were so glad it didn’t rain, and i think that having overcast sky was more helpful than hindering. i think the shadows might have been too harsh up in the kimmel center garden if the sun was out. and we were able to go out on broad street and take pictures on the median, as well. we alsp came across a guy with a small scruffy yorkie who we borrowed for a couple of minutes to pretend to be Toto (the bride is way into the wizard of oz, and was wearing ruby slippers). it was exhausting, but i think a really successful event. photos will be up maybe next week some time.

anatomy lab copyright Miss Plum.

i was filling in again for the regular staff photographer yesterday at the penn vet school. i love getting to see behind the scenes there.

if you are one of the folks who asked me to take a picture of you with your student, please email me ( addie.plum AT gmail.com ) and i’ll send you a copy of the photos i took.

scarred copyright Miss Plum.

i had to have a surgical biopsy done on a large cyst that appeared on my neck in august. all went well, and the doctor thought from looking at it when she was in there that it really is just a cyst, and not something worse. still, we won’t know till next wednesday what the results are. in the meantime i get to walk around looking like frankenstein, which i think is kind of cool.

river froth copyright Miss Plum.

not only was my head all a-swirl yesterday (forgot to take my medication) but my entire life feels like it’s spiraling a bit out of control right now. so many complicated relationships, so many events, so much to do at work…and never enough time or money or understanding. i think i’ve been holding up pretty well, but i feel like maybe the cracks are starting to show a bit.

prisoners copyright Miss Plum.

i hope i get to spend an actual vacation at the beach one of these years.

beware of… copyright Miss Plum.

so, here’s what’s been happening:

this crazy lump popped up on my neck three weeks ago. at first, i thought it was the mumps (which i had as a kid and remember quite vividly). so i rushed to the doctor as soon as i could, but my regular doc was not in. the woman i saw told me to wait 2-3 weeks, and see if it just went away. i was not at all happy with that suggestion, so i went back the next day to see my regular physician. she had blood tests done, but they came back showing nothing. a week later, the thing was still there, and getting more painful, so she did more blood tests (to check for catscratch fever–yes, it’s real) and referred me to an ear-nose-throat specialist. when i went in to see the ENT a few days later, she became quite serious, and told me she was worried i had lymphoma. not at all what i was expecting from my morning. she tried to send me up immediately to have a needle biopsy and cat scan, but i ended up having to wait over the weekend to get that appointment. it was a long weekend. thankfully gail was visiting, and that took my mind off it a bit.

the needle biopsy last monday was so crazy painful that the doctor who did it seemed convinced that it had to be an infection of some kind, and not a tumor. this was confirmed, thank goodness, by the cat scan. turns out i have a horribly infected congenital cyst.

so now, i am on a 14-day course of antibiotics which, so far, has not done anything. i’m on day 6. the cyst has actually seemed to spread further up towards my ear, and has been so painful that i spent all weekend on the couch under the influence of percoset. i guess if this doesn’t work, i’ll have to have the thing cut out. even if the antibiotics do work, there’s a chance that the cyst will continue to flare up, and have to be removed anyway, so i kind of hope we can just get it over with now.

in the meantime, i am trying to remain upright at my desk at work, since we are in the middle of working on a very important grant. it’s rough going, especially since the whole building seems to be in a state of upheaval at the moment. elevators are being worked on, offices are being renovated, and general chaos reigns. and the students will be here in a week, which means i also have course reserve readings to prepare, and library tours to give. i just hope i can hang in till the few days off i am getting near the end of september for my brother’s visit from alaska. wish me luck.

goin’ down copyright Miss Plum.

i’ve been feeling like complete crap lately, due to all kinds of unpleasant events. i haven’t wanted or really been able to get out and do any serious photography, so i’ve fallen back on bathtub portraits. i took some great nude self-portraits, which i wish i could share, but i haven’t the nerve. perhaps i need an anonymous flickr account for that type of thing.

tower copyright Miss Plum.

i finally got around to shooting another collector. my friend peth loves short pencils: ones which have been gradually worn to nubs, and ones which started out short, like the sort you get at ikea, or mini golf.

dead copyright Miss Plum.

we went to hang out at the beginning/ending location of the homewreckers all-girl bike race yesterday on lemon hill. lots of fun, beers, shade and lounging. and girls. and also tattoos. good times!

for more photos (not all have been processed yet) go here.

ophie copyright Miss Plum.

my mom had to put her dog, ophelia, to sleep a few days ago. she was about 14 years old, i belive, though it seems like we had her longer than that. we originally raised her for the Seeing Eye, but they ended up using her for breeding instead of training her to be a guide dog. we also raised a puppy, harriet, from her first litter. harriet was rejected as a guide dog, so she also lives with my mom now, and is about 12.

ophelia was a really sweet girl, though her breath was rank. she loved playing ball (though that game was eventually banned due to tussles with harriet) so much that her teeth were worn down from catching. she also was especially fond of eating ice cubes, and sleeping in front of the fridge.

so long, ophie, we’ll miss you!